Cure
by Eyes for Eternity
Summary: "Just wait, she's going to ask you to stay for dinner and send you home with the leftover dessert." Mrs. Everdeen pokes her head through the door. "Gale, dear, it's getting late. Would you like to stay for dinner?" Gale grins. Katniss glares.
1. Cure

**Agh. I haven't written in forever. It's depressing. Anyway, this is a lovely little series of drabbles that will follow the hypothetical importance of Katniss and Gale's siblings (mostly Prim and Posy, hence the title, but I might throw Rory and Vick in too) throughout the series. It will not be canon. It might not even be consistent with the rest of the chapters, though I'll try and include a few arcs that will flow together. Reviews are lovely and greatly appreciated. Also; Galeniss fics are too rare nowadays. Go write some, guys. With the movie coming out, this ship is on its metaphorical death bed. So many Peeta-Katniss fics will flood in March 23 (what is that ship name anyway? Kata? Keeta? Patniss? Originally, the first little moniker that ever came to mind was Peetniss, but if you say that aloud, you will see the dilemma) and it will be horrible.**

**So yeah.**

***later edit* The author's note above was written in February. I forgot about this story for the better part of the year, but it just recently caught my eye when I was sifting through my documents folder. So here you go.**

_(care)_

Gale hurries into the room, glancing around worriedly for a braid of dark hair and a tangle of blond. Katniss sees him at the door and beckons him over to the table.

"What happened?"

"She fell during lunch, hit her head. It's probably just a concussion," Katniss replies, looking down at her unconscious sister. Gale nods and drops his backpack into her hands, picking up the little blond girl and settling her onto his forearms. They hurry out of the school and down the street.

She can't help but glance over every few minutes, concern and admiration shining in her dark gray eyes.

"Thank you for doing this, Gale." He looks at her carefully.

"It's no problem, really, Catnip. You know I'm here for you," he replies, grinning. She smiles back at him.

* * *

"Katniss, get some blankets out of the closet. Gale, could you go fetch a pitcher of water, please? Katniss, get a washcloth while you're in the linens!"

Gale hurries to comply with the older woman's request, filling up a big tin pitcher at the sink. Mrs. Everdeen works quickly, soaking a cloth in the cool water and wringing it damp. Gale goes to help Katniss make the bed, laying out more blankets on top of the thin mattress in her room. She finishes her end and looks at him scrutinizingly. He raises an eyebrow.

"I think my mother may love you." He finds himself rolling his eyes as he tucks in the last blanket before crossing his arms over his chest and staring at his best friend.

"Is that so?" Gale deadpans. Now it's Katniss's turn to roll her eyes.

"I'm serious! Did you notice how she demanded I go get blankets, then politely requested that you get some water? Is there some conspiracy I don't know about where you'll replace me as her child? Just wait, she's going to ask you to stay for dinner and send you home with the leftover dessert."

Mrs. Everdeen pokes her head through the door.

"Gale, dear, it's getting late. Would you like to stay for dinner?"

Gale grins. Katniss glares.

* * *

Gale sits next to the bed, flipping through an old book. The concussed girl behind him breathes softly, reaching up to bat at the bandage on her head every now and then. He hears the water stop running in the kitchen as Katniss and her mother finish cleaning the dishes. Katniss comes into the room quietly, drying her hands on a ratty dish towel. She sits down next to him softly.

"Has she woken up yet?" she asks quietly. Gale shakes his head, closing the book and looking over his shoulder at the little girl. Primrose stirs, shaking her head and reaching out with her thin fingers.

"Gale…" she mutters quietly, seeking her caregiver for the day.

"Right here, Prim," comes his reply. He reaches out and her smaller hand wraps around four of his fingers. Gale finds himself smiling, and Katniss finds herself doing the same. She takes his free hand.

* * *

Gale shrugs into his jacket and laces up his boots. Katniss stands by the door, holding a bag of cookies that were left over after dinner. She hands the bag to Gale when he stands up, then wraps her arms around his midsection.

"Thanks for doing this," she mumbles into his jacket. He smiles down at her, tugging on her braid.

"It's nothing, Catnip. We have to take care of each other. That means our families, too."


	2. Fever

_(fever)_

She doesn't ask questions when Gale comes to her door with an unconscious three-year-old in his arms.

"My mother and Prim are out buying food, but we can put her here until they get back," she says, holding the door open and gesturing to the couch in front of the fireplace.

"Thank you," he replies, laying down Posy carefully on the cushions and draping a blanket over her little shoulders. He sits on the floor and leans against the armrest, looking up when Katniss walks in with a washcloth and a bowl of water. She soaks the towel, wrings it out, and lays it across the little girl's forehead.

"Do you know what's wrong?" she asks, settling three logs into the fireplace and starting a subtle flame among them.

"Mom thinks it's measles. Rory and Vick both caught it about this time last year," Gale replies, shrugging and glancing back at his sleeping sister. Katniss nods, sitting down next to him.

"My mother will have a fever reducer when she gets back. That should help for a while." They sit quietly, staring into the flames. She looks up when he wipes beads of sweat off of his forehead, pressing her hand to the skin when his is out of the way.

"Gale, you're sick too."

* * *

"Have Gale swallow two of these; dissolve one into a glass of water and have Posy drink it." Katniss follows her mother's instruction, tapping the edge of the pill bottle against her palm to draw out three of the little tablets. Prim follows her out of the kitchen with two glasses of water.

"Drink up," Katniss says, dumping two of the pills into Gale's hand after Prim hands him a glass. The blonde girl takes the last tablet from her sister and stirs it in with the second glass of water, swirling the liquid around until no grains of medicine remain.

"Katniss, I'm fine, I can go back home and-"

"Your fever is worse than Posy's; now shut up and lie back down." He obliges when she shoves at his shoulder, swallowing his medicine before settling into the worn cushions of the couch.

Her sister follows her out of the room, holding two empty glasses. Katniss fills a pot with cool water and retrieves a couple rags from the linens closet, bringing the supplies out into the main room and getting to work keeping the Hawthorne siblings' fevers at manageable levels.

* * *

"You don't have to be doing this," Gale says, speech slurred from exhaustion and the pain medication. Katniss's gray eyes meet his in a piercing stare.

"Yes, I do. You're my best friend. I'm not going to let you go home and come down with anything worse. Fevers are dangerous."


End file.
